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I like pretty much every technology that you can use to take a photograph and have tried quite a few. I had not, however, unlike most people my age, ever shot a single roll of Kodachrome. Even if you know nothing about photography per se, you know about Kodachrome. Kodachrome was one of the first color films (hitting the market around 75 years ago). Much of our history has been documented on Kodachrome in the form of iconic images such as Steve McCurry’s Afghan Girl. When I read that this historic product was slated to be discontinued I reacted predictably: I have to try that stuff! So, I checked in with the folks at Wheaton’s Camera, an historic store itself, in operation since 1895, and sure enough, they had one last brick (twelve rolls). But I didn’t seem to get around to shooting with it. Time went by, and in this case, my Kodachrome project became a race against the clock. There was only one place on planet Earth that developed Kodachrome by this time, Dwayne’s in Kansas City (Which by the way is not closing and is a great place to get slide film processed. For color negative film, I’d recommend Wheaton’s in Worcester.) Dwayne’s made it crystal clear on their web site that if the rolls were not in their lab by noon on December 30, 2010, they weren’t going to be developed. Ever. Anywhere. Yikes.

On December 28, I loaded by my Nikon F6 and off to Elm Park in Worcester I went. I am always experimenting with new ways of creating portraits of trees, and this seemed the best, and quickest way to try out and/or pay a tribute to this passing film. After a couple of hours there, the fruits of the shoot were loaded into a Fed Ex envelope and sent off to KC. (Click on the images for a better view.)

You’ll note that it has something of a blueish color cast. (Tech note: These images are pretty much what came back from Dwayne’s. They were scanned in a Nikon 5000 film scanner and then processed in Lightroom. There, I cropped and straightened, applied just a bit of noise reduction to tone down the grain, and added a bit of sharpening. These images never made it to Photoshop. Everything else in the scanner and the computer was done at the default settings. The color you see is pretty close to what you’d see if you looked at the slides.)

You’ll also note that this film is really contrasty! Slide film has far less room to maneuver between the highlights and the shadows than you can now find on a high end digital camera from Nikon or Canon. Great for capturing the interplay between the subject and the shadow. You don’t need to have detail in everything.

The exercise gave me a lot to think about. Not the least was the assumption that given the photogenic nature of this location, and it’s history, maybe over 1,000,000 exposures of Kodachrome had been shot in Elm Park in the past 75 years. (If you don’t know the Park, don’t judge it by tree portraits taken in the dead of winter. While I love it this time of year, everyone would agree I think that it is quite lovely in the other three seasons. It is a favorite spot for wedding pictures.) I couldn’t help but think that these were the last Kodachrome exposures to ever be made here. (I was shooting at around 11AM on the 28th. If I’m wrong, please correct me.)

The point is, that there’s a lot of history here, natural, photographic and human.

It would be very disingenuous to leave you with the impression that I’m a major film shooter. My first serious camera in adulthood was a NIkon D100. That’s with a “D.” I started shooting film after I learned to create pictures digitally and then it was largely black and white film. But one of the nicest things about photography is the plethora of techniques available to the artist. Now, there is one less which is understandable, but too bad. Paul, sad to say, Momma really has taken your Kodachrome away.

Before leaving Kodachrome though I think it’s so important to pay tribute to the photographic company and its employees that have given us all so much, Eastman Kodak. Yes, they are in trouble now, understandably. Digital photography did not just create competition for film, it “disrupted” as we business school types say, the industry. Kodak needed to do more than improve, and make their products “better, faster cheaper.” Kodak had to learn to do something completely different. Ironically, the digital camera was invented at Kodak. Kodak of course stumbled when it came to capitalizing on that invention as great companies sometimes do. Success can actually undermine a company’s ability to innovate. But, Kodak did give us so much that we still treasure. In particular, a variety of Kodak innovations and inventions made it possible for the average individual to independently, pretty much, create memorable images that last far beyond one life span. Thank you Kodak.

Post script: I should also clarify that Kodachrome was also not the most environmentally friendly of films, by a long shot. That being said, Kodak did “clean up it’s act” in the past twenty or so years from an environmental standpoint. Unfortunately, no means of image making is without the potential to degrade the environment. Digital is certainly not. Do a search on “what happens to recycled computers” and you will find that too many high tech electronic devices end up in the developing world while being recycled, and are often taken through a scrap process that can be quite environmentally and socially problematic. Once again we find that we will always need to monitor our impact and should never assume that a particular type of human activity is environmentally neutral.

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More snow on the way. Crimping my style, though it shouldn’t be. Snow does great things for the landscape, but more about that to come. Before leaving the New York City canopy (for now, you will always come back to the New York City if you’re interested in urban nature), I just wanted to mention the interesting take on the canopy you’ll experience in many locations if you simply look up. From Bryant Park, right along 42nd St. on a cloudy day…. (Click on the images for a better view.)

The canopy is far more visible in some ways than during the summer months.

It is clearly easier to create this wrapping effect in parks and along avenues, but it’s value to the urban experience is without question.

Tech note: Taken with an Olympus EPl-2, a nice little camera that fits in your pocket. I can see why these things are selling so well.

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Did you ever notice that in those science fiction movies that portray what our lives will likely be like (usually not for the better) maybe 100 years hence, the landscape is often devoid of any hint of nature. I’m struck by the question I’ve occasionally had over the years to the effect “why is a nature photographer carrying a camera in the city?” Luckily, back on planet earth, our reality, at least so far, is not one devoid of nature where we live. Thanks to the sometimes paternalistic foresight of most of our city planners, trees are a fixture of the urban landscape. As I’ve said before though, they are under threat, as documented by the wonderful work of Everlyn Herwitz, Trees at Risk . In fact the canopy of trees that has given many cities large and small so much in the way of fresh air, shade and aesthetic beauty is shrinking. (To say nothing of the urban canopy’s capability as a warrior against global warming.)

But sometimes people with the power to do something about a problem actually step up and take positive action, so here’s a shout out to Mayor Bloomberg of New York City and his Million Trees campaign. We just returned from a wonderful week in New York with Al and Donna, and spent some time in Central Park on a bitterly cold day. Not much of a canopy this time of year of course, but the trees are still with us, everywhere we go. In the winter, the shapes of the trees stand out, as well as their reach, the way they seem to interact with one another, and with the people who depend upon them, and on whom they depend. (Click on the images for a better view.)

A city without trees is unthinkable; so, thank you Mr. Mayor. (Even though you had some trouble getting the streets cleaned in December.) There are many such initiatives underway throughout the United States, including several in Worcester, Massachusetts, my home town. They are worthy of your consideration and support.

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It was almost humorous to hear about the catastrophic snow fall in Atlanta, four inches. That’s about a 90 minute school delay here. Seriously, they aren’t used to it and it did cause them some real trouble I gather. We, however are used to it. Or we better be, because tomorrow we’re going to get hit pretty hard it seems. So, what about spring? It’s not here yet evidently. I’m spending some time this winter trying to sharpen up my flower photography in preparation for the spring and a more intensive exploration of wildflowers in Central Massachusetts. Guess I don’t have to rush. Here are a few flower shots to tide us over. I really enjoyed working with these little plants, courtesy of Chris: Primrose plants from good old Big Y. (Click on the images for a better view.)

Tech note: These images didn’t receive a lot of post processing in photoshop. The softness is the result of shooting through a soft filter, just like the old days. Soft filters were frequently used for portrait photography as they hid a variety of issues, shall we say. Same thing here. The camera in use was the Nikon D7000, which is Nikon’s newest and to date it’s most pixel dense camera. Thankfully, it is no where near Nikon’s most expensive. They are going to sell a vast number of these cameras.

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I’m happy to report that one of my photos was chosen for today’s Featured Photo at the Grafton News. (Scroll down the front page.) Not so happy to report, however, that the building in which they have their offices was hit by an arsonist on New Year’s Day. Quite a few people were put out of work unfortunately. I’m told though that they will keep the paper running. Good for them!

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Welcome to the environmental photography and sustainability blog of James M. Hunt. Chris, my wife, and I care deeply about our natural environment and in particular those places, beings and phenomena that may not get the attention that they deserve, in spite of their importance. Since the places we tend to frequent may receive a bit less attention, we're often engaged in a process of discovery ourselves. We'll let you know here something of what we learn along the way. Thanks for taking the time to join us.

All images on this site are copyright (c) James M. Hunt, 2010 through 2018 all rights are reserved. No use of any image posted here without written consent.
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FINE ART PRINTING OF WESTBOROUGH
James is also the proprietor of Fine Art Printing of Westborough, a printing, scanning, and photo restoration business operating in Westborough, Massachusetts. You can see the link below. Inquiries are welcomed!